Improvement in ratchet attachments for harvesters



the t PATENT Errea.

WILLIAM OOGSVVELL, OF OTTAWA, ILLINOIS.

llVlPROVllVll-N'I' IN RATCHET ATTACHMENTS FOR HARVESTERS, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 54,689, dated May 15,1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM OOGSWELL, of Ottawa, in the county of LaSalle and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful RatchetAttachment for Harvcsters and other Machines; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the nature,construction, and operation of the same, reference being had totheaccompanying drawings, which are made part of this specification, and inwhich- Figure l is a sectional side elevation of my improved ratchetattachment, the plane of section being 011 line g/ y, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 isa section through the plane indicated by the line .fr w, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twofigures.

The subject of this invention is a device in which two pawls are adaptedto be adjusted with respect to a ratchet device so as to admit of areversal of the motion or the suspension of the operation during reversemovements of the machine. or apparatus.

The invention will be well understood by considering it in connectionwith a machine in which the motion of the parts is reversed inconsequence of the shifting of the pinion through which a cuttingapparatus receives motion from the driving-wheel.

I will proceed to describe it in connection with the harvester for whichLet-ters Patent were granted to me on the 6th day of December, 1859, andreissued on the 20thv day of June, 1865.

The harvester described in saidpatent is provided with a pinion, throughwhich motion is transmitted from the main wheel or axle to the cuttingapparatus, and with two sets of cogs for increasing or diminishing thespeed, the pinion being made to engage with either set ot' cogs by meansof an eccentric and lever. One set of cogs are formed on the interiorcircumference or rim of the mai-n driving-wheel and the small set are ona cog-wheel concentric with the main driving-wheel.

The present improvement consists in combining a pair of adjustable pawlswith a ratchet or retaining device, which is fixed rigidly on the shaft,which receives motion from the driving-pinion above mentioned, and whichcommunicates motion to the cutting apparatus or subserves an analogousfunction in other machinery. The pawls are pivoted to a hea-d or piecewhich is cast and moves with the driving-pinion, and in this exampleemployed to prevent the rotation of the ratchet-shaft and suspend theoperation of the cutter-bar when the machine is backing and when thepinion is engaged with either set of cogs.

The following description'will enable others skilled in the art to whichmy invention appertains to fully understand and use the same. Arepresents the driving-pinion, placed loosely on the end of a shaft, B,which transmits motion to the cutting apparatus through any suitableconnections, such as gear-wheels. The pinion A is formed or cast in onepiece with a head or piece, A', and tlange, A2.

On the shaft B is formed or cast a header v disk, B', and a ratchet ordetaining device, B2.

The parts A', A2, and B' form a box or casing, which, when the parts areproperly put together, incloses the ratchet B2 and pawls4 The pawls C C'are pivoted to the head A', as represented, and they are acted upon bythe springs D D, which have a tendency to force them inward, so as toengage them with the ratchet B2; but by means of the screw-bolts E E'and nuts E2 E3 the pawls O C' ma-y be held out of contact with theratchet.

The parts A A' A2 and B B' B2 are coupled or connected together by meansof the nut F, which is .fixed upon the threaded end ot' the shaft B.

The operation of the above-described devices is as follows: By means ofa lever and eccentric the pinion A may be thrown into connection withthe cogs G on the main driving-wheel or with the cogs ot' the wheel H.The pinion A is shifted from Gto H to diminish the speed of the cuttingapparatus, and vice versa. When the piuionA is engaged with G the nut E2is turned until the screw-bolt E is projected inward sufficiently tobring the pawl O into contact with the ratchet B2, and the nut E3 isturned so as to retract the screw-bolt E and draw the pawl C' out ofcontact with the ratchet. Under this adjustment of the parts the pinionA and shaft B will rotate together',

and the cutting apparatus will receive the requisite motion during theforward movement ofthe machine; butif the machine be backed theconsequent reversal of the rotation of the pinion A will cause the pawlO to glide over the ratchet B without imparting` motion thereto, so thatthe cutting apparatus ceases to operate until the machine again startsforward. `When l(he pinion A is engaged with the cogs of H to reduce thespeed the effective rotation of the pinion A is necessarily the reverseof that which it receives from the cogs G, and hence the pawl C wouldnot be available for the purposes above described, but on the contrarywould suspend the motion ot' the shaft B and cutting apparatus duringthe forward movement of the machine and put them in operation if themachine were backed. Therefore the pawl C is drawn away from the ratchetB2 and the pawl C advanced so as to engage therewith, when the operationproceeds as before. The screw-bolts may be connected with the pawls bypivots.

It is obvious that this ratchet-andpawl arrangement can be used in manyother ma chines. VIn fact it is applicable wherever there is a reversalof the motion or a variation of speed and a shifting,` of some of theparts to effect such variation. Hence I do not wish to be understood ashaving described a device to be used in connection with harvestersexclusively, the detailed description in connection with the harvesterhaving been made simply bhv-Way of elucidation.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. The combination, with the pinion A and shaft B, of the adjustablepawls C G and ratchet B2, substantially as described, to operatein theman nerand for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the pawls C G and ratchet B2, of thescrew-bolts E E andr nuts E E3, as and for the purpose described.

WM. GOGSWELL.

Witnesses:

H. G. Voncn,

CHARLES SNOW.

